14 DAY TRIAL // Quentin Tarantino promised fans that he would deliver a true masterpiece with his latest WWII movie, the intentionally misspelled “Inglourious Basterds.” From what early reviews are saying, the famous director actually managed to do so. And not only that, but he’s also managed to turn the film into the biggest sensation at this year’s festival and, apparently Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s presence at the premiere had nothing to do with it.
Early reviews trashed the film, saying that Tarantino had announced an action movie and, for once, this was precisely the one thing he forgot to put in it, action. Labeled as too static, overtly dramatic and way too “talky” to be enjoyed by some movie critics, “Basterds” is literally ripping Cannes to shreds, with the rest of industry insiders singing its praises and referring to it as the hottest film this year.
“Rather brilliant. Every bit as idiosyncratic as the spelling of its title, it’s a wonderfully-acted movie that subverts expectation at every turn. And it may represent the most confident, audacious writing and directing of QT’s career. The performances are superb across-the-board.” Empire writes in a first review of the film. “By turns surprising, nutty, windy, audacious and a bit caught up in its own cleverness, the picture is a completely distinctive piece of American pop art with a strong Euro flavor that’s new for the director.” Variety agrees.
Still, major publications like The Guardian and Hollywood Reporter would rather urge fans to go and throw themselves into an abyss than sit through the 2+ of runtime of “Basterds.” Of course, as fans point out, this too can speak in favor of the film because nothing mediocre ever leads to controversy and such a heated debate as this movie has. In the end, it could very well be that Tarantino’s “Basterds” is the kind of film that one can either love or completely hate, without an in-between possible. For that, one has to see it – “Inglourious Basterds” drops in US theaters in August.
“[Basterds] is awful. It is achtung-achtung-ach-mein-Gott atrocious. It isn’t funny; it isn’t exciting; it isn’t a realistic war movie, yet neither is it an entertaining genre spoof or a clever counterfactual wartime yarn. It isn’t emotionally involving or deliciously ironic or a brilliant tissue of trash-pop references. Nothing like that. Brad Pitt gives the worst performance of his life.” The Guardian writes. “For a war movie, there is very little action. People talk, soldiers scheme and a German war hero pesters a French woman in Paris. Otherwise, the action comes in short bursts such as the machine-gunning of a hiding Jewish family through a farmhouse floorboards and a shootout in a bistro.” Hollywood Reporter also says.